Orders of oil derivatives by gas stations increased sharply on Wednesday, one day before the deadline station owners gave the Jordan Petroleum Refinery Company (JPRC) to address their concerns or face a complete halt in fuel orders.

According to the Jordan News Agency, Petra, gasoline orders on Wednesday rose by over 35 per cent to 11,200 tonnes from the usual 8,000 tonnes per day.

Earlier this week, gas stations threatened to stop ordering oil derivatives from the JPRC as of Thursday, accusing Jordan’s sole fuel supplier of failing to solve some outstanding issues gas station owners have been complaining about for months.

In previous remarks to The Jordan Times, Gas Station Owners Association (GSOA) President Fahed Fayez noted that owners have been complaining for several months that the quantities of fuel delivered to stations are smaller than the amounts ordered and paid for, adding that gas stations also want to double their royalties, which are currently 9.8 fils per litre or 1.6 per cent of the price of one litre of fuel.

If the outstanding issues with the refinery are not solved by Thursday, Fayez said, gas stations across the Kingdom will stop receiving JPRC oil trucks as of next Sunday, noting that stations will continue to serve customers until they run out of fuel.

GSOA Director Ahmad Hattab confirmed that demand for fuel increased by over one-third yesterday, adding that a joint committee from the Lower House, the Energy Ministry, the JPRC and the GSOA carried out tests on delivery trucks to evaluate the gas station owners’ claims of not receiving the quantities they paid for. Although the committee has not reached a solution yet, Hattab was optimistic that outstanding issues would be resolved before Sunday.